West Coast Sailing Grand Prix

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The weather was good. I sailed in a rash guard both days. No spray-top. The water felt warmer than the central SF bay but you couldn't call it warm. The altitude of the lake is around 1200 feet. The lake is surrounded with tree covered mountains. One peak had some snow.

It is no secret the wind blows from one end of the lake or the other. The courses are broken into two sets. Each set is for weather marks toward one end of the lake or the other. At the southeastern end is the earth dam forming the reservoir.

The air was light for sure. There was one race with steady 10 knots. No prizes for guessing which one that was. All the others had significant shifts and pressure changes. The first day, there was one race where the wind changed ends three times. People said that was unusual, usually there is a daily thermal pattern. Starts in one direction, dies, turns, builds. There were less than five times when the air was completely still. They seemed interminable, but the longest was probably 10 mins. There were extensive periods of very light breeze, say 2 knots or less. After nothing, that actually feels like something you can work with. You have to sit absolutely still in those conditions. There is no current.

When the breeze is coming from the dam end, there are significant bends and shifts coming off the shore on the south side of the lake. That seems to be the thing to do, go into the shore on the beat. Except in the last race Jim Christopher came in from the left side out in the middle of the lake and got to the first weather mark with a good lead. That surprised the Whiskeytown regulars. Sometimes it seemed like the best pressure was in the middle of the lake.

One type of mistake I made on the start line was misjudging time & distance. The start line would have taken 10 seconds to reach along in the Westerly. It was in the 60-90 second range most of the time. I overcompensated on one start. I got to the pin about 5 secs early, was over and had to go back.

This is very different sailing from the central SF bay. There's a big learning curve here for me. It was frustrating at times. It was fun to be in last place and then sail round other people stuck in holes. So odds are I'll make it back next year.